---
sourceDocument: Zurich IT Operations Management
sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/zurich/it-operations-management

 Release :

    - zurich

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Zurich IT Operations Management

ft:clusterId :

    - itom

bundleId :

    - itom

workflow :

    - Technology


---

# Discovery for Microsoft Azure Cloud

# Discovery for Microsoft Azure Cloud {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Zurich  
Updated July 31, 2025  
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## Summary of Discovery for Microsoft Azure Cloud

This documentation explains how ServiceNow Discovery integrates with Microsoft Azure Cloud to efficiently identify and map cloud resources.
It guides customers on setting up Azure service principals, managing Azure subscriptions and management groups, and how Discovery operates with dynamically acquired credentials to access multiple Azure sub-accounts without needing separate credentials for each.
Show full answer Show less  

## Key Features

* **Service Principal Setup:** Create an Azure service principal in your Azure portal and transfer its credential values (Tenant ID, Client ID, Secret Key, Account ID) into ServiceNow. This service principal acts like a service account to grant the MID Server permission to access Azure resources securely.
* **Management Groups and Subscriptions:** Azure management groups organize subscriptions hierarchically but do not contain resources themselves. Discovery can retrieve the list of subscriptions (sub-accounts) under a management group after testing credentials, allowing selection of subscriptions for discovery schedules.
* **Dynamically Acquired Credentials:** Discovery automatically obtains temporary credentials for each subscription sub-account using Azure APIs, simplifying credential management and enhancing security.
* **REST API Permissions:** Customers should use the Cloud Discovery patterns spreadsheet to grant necessary permissions for Discovery patterns and keep it updated quarterly to access new patterns.
* **Service Mapping Integration:** Enables tag-based discovery to create service instance maps including Azure cloud components, using preconfigured CI relationships available from the ServiceNow Store (release 1.0.68 onward).

## Practical Use of CI Classes and Attributes

The discovery process populates various Configuration Item (CI) classes with attributes mapped directly from Azure resource properties. Key CI classes include:

* **Logical Datacenter, Availability Zone, Resource Group, Network, Subnet** -- capturing hierarchy and network details.
* **Storage Volume, Security Groups, Virtual Server, Hardware Template** -- detailing compute, storage, and security configurations.
* **Cloud Public IP Address, Load Balancer, Network Interfaces** -- representing networking endpoints and load balancing.
* **Images and Cloud Storage Accounts** -- capturing OS templates and storage configurations.

Each CI attribute is aligned with specific Azure API response fields, enabling accurate and consistent data import into the ServiceNow CMDB.

## What Customers Can Expect

* Streamlined setup via service principal credentials to enable MID Server access to Azure resources.
* Automated discovery of multiple Azure subscriptions grouped in management hierarchies without manual credential entry for each.
* Comprehensive visibility into Azure cloud infrastructure components, accurately reflected in ServiceNow CMDB with detailed attributes.
* Enhanced ability to map cloud services and their relationships using Service Mapping's tag-based discovery for improved service instance modeling.
* Ongoing updates to discovery patterns and required permissions to keep pace with Azure service changes.  
If your cloud resources are in an Azure cloud, create a user identity
called a service principal. This grants permissions to the MID Server to access selected
resources.

## Azure management groups and subscriptions {#azure-cloud-discovery__section_zsr_zbb_kmb}

An Azure management group contains other management groups and subscriptions. The management groups in an Azure Cloud environment form a hierarchy, but
don't contain volumes or virtual
machines. Subscriptions contain cloud resources, such as virtual machines. The subscriptions that belong to management groups are called sub-accounts.

The advantages of using management groups are:

Easy population of sub-accounts

After you configure the management group and supply the necessary credentials, you can test the account. If the test succeeds, Discovery returns a list of subscriptions in that management group. From this list, you can choose
one or more subscription sub-accounts to include in the Discovery schedule using the management group. For more information on
the hierarchy of management groups and subscriptions, see [Organize your resources with Azure management groups](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/governance/management-groups/overview)

Discovery of sub-account resources using dynamically acquired credentials

When you run Discovery on your subscriptions, you do not need separate credentials for each sub-account. Discovery finds the credentials for the management group and maps them to all of the subscription sub-accounts. The Cloud
Discovery process handles credentials automatically by acquiring a temporary credential for each sub-account via an Azure API. You can elect to use the default configuration or customize the MID Server to assume other roles for
additional controls and security. In addition, Discovery can automatically refresh the list of sub-accounts and datacenters
covered in a discovery schedule. For more information, see the KB article [Retrieve newer accounts/sub-accounts automatically via Cloud Discovery.](https://support.servicenow.com/kb?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0961449)
A service principal for Azure cloud services is similar to a Microsoft
Windows service account. It enables Windows processes to communicate with each other within an Active Directory domain.  
To create the Azure service principal in your ServiceNow instance, copy the service principal credential values from the Azure portal into a text editor, and then transfer those values into the instance. Figure 1. The text file that you generate during this procedure  
This table shows you the Azure Service Principal value and the location in Azure where you can find the values you need for the credentials.{#azure-cloud-discovery__table_kpc_svh_wjb__entry__3}

| Cloud Provisioning and Governance setting | Azure Service Principal value | Location of the Azure value |
|-|-|-|
| Tenant ID | Azure Directory ID value from the text file. | Azure Active DirectoryPropertiesDirectory ID |
| Client ID | Azure Application ID value from the text file. | Azure Active DirectoryApp registrationsRegistered App.Application ID |
| Secret Key | Azure Application key value from the text file. | Azure Active DirectoryApp registrationsRegistered AppSettingsKeys (hidden) |
| Account ID | Azure Subscription ID associated with the Tenant ID. | Azure Active DirectorySubscriptionsSubscription ID |
[ ]

{#azure-cloud-discovery__table_kpc_svh_wjb}

## Verify the REST API permissions {#azure-cloud-discovery__id_ppz_r33_ydc}

Download the [Cloud Discovery patterns spreadsheet](https://downloads.docs.servicenow.com/resource/enus/api/servicenow-discovery-patterns-api-details.xlsx) so you can grant user permissions required for running the Discovery patterns. In addition to permissions, the spreadsheet also includes useful information such as pattern names, types, CI Classes, and links to vendor documentation. New patterns are available quarterly, so check periodically to be sure you have the latest version of the spreadsheet.{#azure-cloud-discovery__cloud-discovery-api-ph-short-prereq}

## Data collected by Service Mapping during top-down discovery {#azure-cloud-discovery__section_mtq_nbg_ppb}

To include discovered components into service instances, enable CI relationships used in tag-based discovery by Service Mapping. These CI relationships are available from the 1.0.68 release on the ServiceNow Store. For operational steps, see [Tag-based discovery configuration](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/BN~dk30OpBm4_TRMXqfTZg "You can refine the default configuration to control which CIs Service Mapping includes in application services during the tag-based discovery process.").  
Service Mapping uses tag-based discovery to create service instance maps including the Cloud components. The Service Mapping application comes with the following preconfigured CI relationships used for tag-based discovery. These CI relationships are available from the 1.0.68 release on the ServiceNow Store. {#azure-cloud-discovery__id_yqp_xhy_qpb__entry__3}

| CI | Relationship | CI |
|-|-|-|
| Configuration Item \[cmdb_ci\] | Hosted on::Hosts | Logical Datacenter \[cmdb_ci_logical_datacenter\] |
| Logical Datacenter \[cmdb_ci_logical_datacenter\] | Hosted on::Hosts | Cloud Service Account \[cmdb_ci_cloud_service_account\] |
[ ]

{#azure-cloud-discovery__id_yqp_xhy_qpb}

## Azure Cloud Discovery API list {#azure-cloud-discovery__section_zbd_ypm_qmb}

|-|-|
| CI Attributes | Azure Attributes |
| object_id | response.name |
| name | response.name |
| region | response.displayName |
| status | Installed |
[Table 1. Logical Datacenter (cmdb_ci_logical_datacenter)]

{#azure-cloud-discovery__table_mr2_1qm_qmb}

|-|-|
| CI Attributes | Azure Attributes |
| object_id | response.id |
| name | response.name |
| status | Installed/ Retired |
| state |   |
[Table 2. Availability Zone (cmdb_ci_availability_zone)]

{#azure-cloud-discovery__table_md1_hqm_qmb}

|-|-|
| CI Attributes | Azure Attributes |
| object_id | id |
| name | name |
| state | available |
| status | Installed/ Retired |
[Table 3. Resource Group (cmdb_ci_resource_group)]

{#azure-cloud-discovery__table_q1s_3qm_qmb}

|-|-|
| CI Attributes | Azure Attributes |
| object_id | id |
| state |   |
| name | name |
| cidr | properties.addressSpace.addressPrefixes |
[Table 4. Network (cmdb_ci_network)]

{#azure-cloud-discovery__table_c5j_jqm_qmb}

|-|-|
| CI Attributes | Azure Attributes |
| subnetName | response.name |
| subnetId | response.id |
| resourceGroup | response.properties.resourceGuid |
| networkId | response.id.split('/subnets/') |
| networkName | getNetwork(networkId) |
| cidrBlock | response.properties.addressSpace.addressPrefixes |
[Table 5. Subnet (cmdb_ci_cloud_subnet)]

{#azure-cloud-discovery__table_nfw_jqm_qmb}

|-|-|
| CI Attributes | Azure Attributes |
| state | properties.provisioningState |
| storage_type | properties.BlobType |
| volume_id | id |
| name | name |
| size_bytes | properties.diskSizeGB \* 1024 \* 1024 \* 1024 |
| object_id | id |
| size | response.properties.diskSizeGB |
| "volume_container" | containerName |
| status | Installed/ Retired |
[Table 6. Storage Volume (cmdb_ci_storage_volume)]

{#azure-cloud-discovery__table_i3l_kqm_qmb}

|-|-|
| CI Attributes | Azure Attributes |
| object_id | id |
| name | name |
| state | properties.provisioningState |
[Table 7. Security Groups (cmdb_ci_compute_security_group)]

{#azure-cloud-discovery__table_wdg_lqm_qmb}

|-|-|
| CI Attributes | Azure Attributes |
| memory | properties.hardwareProfile.vmSize |
| state | The instance statuses: * succeeded: on * running: succeeded/stopping * deallocating: stopping/stopped * deallocated: off * terminated: error {#azure-cloud-discovery__ul_x51_b5m_jyb} |
| object_id | id |
| cpus | properties.hardwareProfile.vmSize |
| disks | properties.storageProfile.dataDisks |
| nics | properties.networkProfile.networkInterfaces\[\].size |
| vm_inst_id | properties.vmId |
| name | name |
| status | Installed/ Retired |
[Table 8. Virtual Server (cmdb_ci_vm_instance)]

{#azure-cloud-discovery__table_flf_mqm_qmb}

|-|-|
| CI Attributes | Azure Attributes |
| name | name |
| object_id | name |
| vcpus | numberOfCores |
| memory_mb | memoryInMB |
| local_storage_gb | resourceDiskSizeInMB |
| cores | numberOfCores |
[Table 9. Hardware Template (cmdb_ci_compute_template)]

{#azure-cloud-discovery__table_g25_mqm_qmb}

|-|-|
| CI Attributes | Azure Attributes |
| object_id | response.id |
| name | response.name |
| public_dns | properties.dnsSettings.fqdn |
| public_ip_address | properties.ipAddress |
[Table 10. Cloud Public IP Address (cmdb_ci_cloud_public_ipaddress)]

{#azure-cloud-discovery__table_udj_nqm_qmb}

|-|-|
| CI Attributes | Azure Attributes |
| object_id | "properties.frontendIPConfigurations.properties.privateIPAddress OR properties.frontendIPConfigurations.properties.publicIPAddress, then call Public IP Address API" |
| name | "properties.frontendIPConfigurations.properties.privateIPAddress OR properties.frontendIPConfigurations.properties.publicIPAddress, then call Public IP Address API" |
| ipaddress_type | "properties.frontendIPConfigurations.properties.privateIPAddress ==\> Private IP Address OR properties.frontendIPConfigurations.properties.publicIPAddress ==\> Public IP Address" |
| status | Installed |
[Table 11. Cloud LB IP Address (cmdb_ci_cloud_lb_ipaddress)]

{#azure-cloud-discovery__table_jkz_rqm_qmb}

|-|-|
| CI Attributes | Azure Attributes |
| object_id | id |
| name | name |
| private_ip | properties.ipConfigurations |
| public_dns | call public ip address api - properties.dnsSettings.fqdn |
| state | properties.provisioningState |
| is_static | properties.ipConfigurations |
| mac_address | properties.macAddress |
| public_ip | call public ip address api - |
[Table 12. "Cloud Network Interfaces cmdb_ci_nic"]

{#azure-cloud-discovery__table_jrd_tqm_qmb}

|-|-|
| CI Attributes | Azure Attributes |
| name | response.id |
| object_id | response.name |
| guest_os | properties.storageProfile.osDisk.osType |
| image_source | id |
| status | Installed/ Retired |
[Table 13. Image (cmdb_ci_os_template)]

{#azure-cloud-discovery__table_irp_wqm_qmb}

|-|-|
| CI Attributes | Azure Attributes |
| name | name |
| object_id | id |
| sku_name | sku.name |
| state | properties.provisioningState |
[Table 14. Cloud Storage Account cmdb_ci_cloud_storage_account]

{#azure-cloud-discovery__table_sf4_yqm_qmb}

|-|-|
| CI Attributes | Azure Attributes |
| object_id | response.id |
| name | response.name |
| state |   |
| dns_name | properties. |
| fqdn |   |
| canonical_hosted_zone_name |   |
[Table 15. Load Balancer (cmdb_ci_cloud_load_balancer)]

{#azure-cloud-discovery__table_kcf_zqm_qmb}

*[\>]: and then